Jacquard mechanism for looms.



No. 660,926.- Patented Oct. 30, I900.

. T. ROWCROFT.

JACGUARD MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

(Application filed Mar. 30, 1900.) (No ModeL) 2 Shuts-She6t l.

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No. 660,926. Patented Oct. 36, I900. T. ROWCROFT.

JACUUABD MEIS'H ANISM FOB LOOMS.

(Application filed Mar. 30, 1900.)

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(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES- PATENT Clinics,

THOMAS ROWCROFT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE STAR'AND CRESCENT MILLS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

JACQUARD MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 660,926, dated October 30, 1900. Application filed March 30,1900. Serial Ila. 10,761. 7 (No model.)

T aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS ROWCROFT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Jacquard Mechanism for Looms, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to construct. a simple, economical, and efiective form of repeating jacquardmachine for looms in order to materially lessen the number of cards requiredan object which I attain by providing the lifter-wires of the machine with donble hooks and movably mounting the griffs in respect to the lifting devices so that they maybe caused to engage with either of said hooks, the position of the card-cylinder being changed only after a series of picks of the loom instead of after every pick and the grifi's being moved between successive picks,

whereby one shed may be formed by liftingwarp-threads corresponding to the openings of a card and the next shed may be formed by lifting warp-threads corresponding to the blank spaces of said card, and so on until as many successive picks have been shot as the pattern will permit the one card to serve.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of sufficient of a jacquard-machine to illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of certain cam mechanism for operating those parts of the jacquard-machine to which myinvention particularly relates. Fig. 3 is a side view of said cam mechanisms. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and '7 are sectional views on an enlarged scale, illustrating the purpose of my invention; and Fig. Sis a side view of partof the jacquard-machine, illustrating another method of carrying out my invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, it will be noted that 1 represents the framework of an ordinary jacquard-machine; 2,,the liftervframe of the machine; 3, one of the side rods of said lifter-frame passing through guides on the frame 1, as usual; 4, the lever whereby vertical reciprocating motion is imparted to the lifter-frame; 5, the lifter rods or wires; 6, the needles controlling the same; 7, the pattern-card cylinder or drum; 8, one of the side rods of the same, and 9 the cam on said wires 5 with single hooks'at their upper ends I provide each ofsaid lifter-wires with a double hook-that is to say, with one hook facing to the right and the other to the leftandI so mount the griffs 11 upon the lifterframe 2 that they can be moved laterally, so as to engage with either of the hooks of the lifter-Wires.

In the present instance each of the upright griff-supporting bars 50 is bent at the upper end at an angle corresponding to one extreme angle of inclination of the gritfs, and secured to each of the ends of said bars is a side plate 12, havingin its upper edge V-shaped notches,

one side of each notch corresponding with the angle of the bent upper end of the griffsupporting bar and the other side of the notch corresponding with lhe opposite eX treme angle to which the griff is moved, the end portions of the griffs restingin the-notches, so that said .griffs can be swung back and forth from one extreme position to the other. My invention in its broader embodiments, however, is not limited to swinging grifbbars. In the present instance the swinging of the griffs is effected by means of a notched bar 13, engaging with the upper edges of the griffs, or there may be a pair of these notched bars, one at each end of the series of griffs. The bar 13 is secured to a rod 14, suitably guided on the framework of the machine and acted upon by a coiled spring 15, tending to move it to one extreme position, movement in the other direction being effected by the action upon a cross-bar 14 of a vibrating'arm 16, carried by a lever 17, which is hung to an npwardlyprojecting portion 18 of the frame 1 and is vibrated at the proper times by means of a cam 19 on a shaft 20 of ,the loom, said cam acting upon an antifrictionroller 21, carried by an arm 22, which is hung to a suitable bearing on the loom-frame and is connected to the lever 17 by means of a rod The shaft 20 has a spur-wheel 24,

which meshes with a spur-pinion 25 on that shaft 26 of the loom from which the swinging movement of the lay and the rocking movement of the lever 4L- are derived, the spurwheel 24 and pinion 25 heing so proportioned that the shaft 20 will rotate once while the shaft 26 is making a nutnber of rotations, the relative speed of the two shafts being dependent upon the character of the work which the loom is intended to perform and upon the desired pattern to he produced.

In the present instance the gears bear the relation of four to one, and the cam has two high portions and two low portions, so that there will be two vibrations of the lever 17 for each rotation of the shaft 20, and the 'griifs 11 will during each rotation of said shaft he twice changed from one extreme position to the ol her, so that the cycle of operations will comprise four picks of the loom. On the shaft 20 is another cam 27, which acts upon an antifriction-roller 28 on an arm 20, hung to a fixed bearing on the loom in the same manner as the arm 22 and connected by a rod 30 to an arm 3l on a shaft. 32, free to turn in suitable hearings on the jacquardframe 1, said rock-shaft having another arm 33, which is connected by a link 34 to the hooked arm or pawl 35, which engages with the quadrangular ratchet 36 on the end of the pattern-card cylinder '7 and serves to effeet a partial rotation of the same as the cylinder is reciprocated, the usual spring 37 hearing on the flat side of the card-cylinder and insuring the complete quarter-turn ot' the same whenever the hooked arm engages with and turns the ratchet Usually the hooked arm engages the ratchet 36 ot the card'cylinder on each inward stroke of the latter, so that there is a change of card for each pick of the loom; but by placing the hooked arm 35 under cam control I am enabled to throw the same out of operative relation to the ratchet 36, and can thus permit a number of reciprocating movements of the card-cylinder without any turning of the latter, and consequently without any change in the position of the cards, the lifter-wires 5 consequently having the same lateral adjustment for a numbetgof successive picks. This, however, does not result in a number of successive similar sheddings of the warp, for the shifting of the grii'fs 11 between successive picks causes a change in the successive sheddings of the warp, as will be understood on reference to Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7.

In the present instance the cam 27 is so formed as to drop the arm 35 and cause a change of card once in every four picks. Supposing, therefore, that on the first pick the cards occupy the position shown in Fig. 4:, so as to engage with the left-hand hooks of the lifter-wires. In this case only those wires which correspond to the openings in the card will be liftedthat is to say, those wires represented at 5 in Figs. 4 and 5-the other wiresthat is to say, those represented at 5 corresponding to the blank spaces of the card having been pushed over by the needles 6, so that their hooks are out of the path of the griiit's 11. Hence when said gritls rise said wires 5 will remain down, as shown in Fig. 5. l/Vhen the griifs descend, however, they will be shifted to the left, as shown in Fig. ti, so as to engage with the righthand hooks of the lifter-wires, and when the griffs again rise the wires 5 will he engaged and lifted thereby, the hooks of the wires 5 now occupying a position between the griit's, so that. they will not he engaged by the latter as they rise. (See Fig. 7.) ()n the next descent of the griffs they will be shifted hack to the position shown in Fig. 4:, and on their next rise the hooks 5 will belitted. When the gritfs again descend, they will-be shifted to the position shown in Fig. ti, and on their next rise there will be a second lift of the wires 5 and when the gritfs again descend there will be a change in the position of the card-cylinder 7; a new card will he'brought into action, and there will be a new adjustment of the lifter-wires; but it will be evident. that the operation ol the lifterwires alternately with one adjustment of the pattern-cardsmay be continued for as many picks as desired, depending upon the cam formation which controls the movement of the hooked arm or pawl 35. For instance, there may he a change of cards only after every six picks or after every eight picks, or, on the other hand, the cards may be changed after every other pick, depending upon the requirements of the pattern. It the cards are changed after every other pick, but half the number of cards need he used as would he required it the cards were changed after every pick, while if the cards are only changed after every fourth, sixth, or eighth pick only one-quarter, one-sixth, or one-eighth as many cards as usual will'be needed.

Although I prefer to retain the same card in action by turning the card-cylinder only once in a number of picks, the same result may be attained by arresting the reciprocating movement of the cylinder, so that it will only make one stroke fora certain number of picks. One means of accomplishing this result is represented in Fig. 8, on reference to which it will be observed that the card-cylinder rod 8 has a cam 9" for-engaging with a pin 10 upon a rod 3 supplementary to the lifterrod 3, the said cam 9 being the reverse of the cam 9 shown in Fig. 1, so that the cardcylinder will be drawn inward or toward the ends of the needles 6 on the rise of the rod 3 and will be moved outward or away from the ends of the needles on the downward movement of said rod. The hooked arm or pawl 35 is also the reverse of the hooked arm 35 shown in Fig. 1, so that it will turn thecylinder as the same moves outwardly. The lever 4 operates a sliding collar 40 on the rod 3, and the latter has fixed 00 131341 and 42, located, respectively, above and below the collar and bearing such relation to the movement of the lever 4 that said collar 40 can play freely between them without imparting any movement to the rod 3 when the latter is at the limit of its npwardmovement. Hung to the frame of the jacquard-machine, however, is a lever 43, which can be vibrated at intervals by the rod 30*, which is intended to be actuated by a suitable cam taking the place of the cam 27 on the shaft 20. To this lever 43 ishung an arm 44, normally supported in the position shown in Fig. 8 by a spring 45 and having a block or enlargement 46, which when the arm is projected will be inserted between the sliding collar 40 and the fixed collar 42 of the rod 3 when the sliding collar is raised. When thus inserted the downward movement of the collar 40 will be transmitted to the collar 42 of the rod and the card-cylinder 7 will be projected by the action of the pin 10 and cam 9*, so as to be turned in order to change the card. The collar 4O acting in its upward movement upon the collar 41 restores the rod 3 to its normal position, as shown in Fig. 8, and if the block 46 is then withdrawn from between collars 40 and 42 the subsequent movements of the collar 40 will have no effect in moving the rod 3 until the block has been again inserted between the two collars. In some of the claims, therefore, I have adopted the term seriespick card-cylinder to indicate a cylinder which is either rotated or reciprocated only once in a'series of picks of the loom and in other claims I have used the term seriespick rotating cylinder to indicate the preferred constructionthat is to say, the one in which the card-cylinder reciprocates constantly, but is rotated only once in a series of picks.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patentl, The combination in jacquard mechanism for looms, of double-hooked lifter-wires, a lifter-frame having movable grids adapted,

when in one position, to engage one set of hooks and when in the other position toengage the other set of hooks of the lifter-wires, means for moving said griffs between successsive picks, and a series-pick card-cylinder whereby the successive sheddings of the warp are different but the adjustment of the lifterwires by the needles is changed only after a succession of picks has been made with the use of the same card, substantially as specified. 1 2. The combination in jacquard mechanism for looms, of double-hooked lifter-wires, a lifter-frame havingmovablegritfs whioh,when in one position, engage with one set of hooks and when in the other position engage with the other set of books of the lifter-wires,n1eans for moving said griffs between successive picks, and a series-pick rotating card-cylinder whereby the successive sheddings of the warp are difierent but the adjustment of the wires by the needles is changed only after a succession of picks has been made with the use of the same card, substantially as-speci-' 3. The combination in'jacquard mechanism for looms, of double-hooked lifter-wires, a lifter-frame having movable grilfs, a controlling device whereby all of said grifis may be simultaneously moved, a cam for actuating said controlling device,and a series-pick cardcylinder, substantially as specified.

4. The combination in jacquard mechanism for looms, of the double-hooked lifter-wires, the lifter-frame having movable griffs, cam mechanism for eifecting movement of said griffs, a card-cylinder and mechanism for reciprocating the same, a cylinder-rotating device, and cam mechanism for acting upon the latter so as to render it operative only once in a series of picks, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOS. ROWOROFT.

Witnesses:

ROBT. G. WHITE, F. E. BECHTOLD. 

